[Author's Note: this was written for the 2023 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction Contest.]
“He’s right behind us!” Jangle screamed as we ran. It was a waste of breath. Of course he was right behind us.
For my part I knocked over a dozen shovels and shoulder-checked a six foot snow globe in the hope that the debris might slow down our pursuer. Vixen neighed frantically a couple dozen yards ahead.
It was madness.
We sprinted forward, jumping over small boulders and juking around corners. We raced through the lunatic’s labyrinth expecting every step to be our last.
“Here!” Jangle cried out, ducking into a hole. I nearly decapitated a decorative thermometer as I used it to swing myself into the crevice. A gate clanged shut the moment I was inside.
“That should hold him for a bit,” Jangle tried to convince himself.
“Fuu-uuck.” I let out, catching my breath.
Then a yelp pierced the air. The smell of burning hair started to fill the tunnel.
“Vixen!” we yelled in unison.
A maniacal laugh boomed from outside the gate. We watched in horror as the madman gripped the reindeer’s now-glowing head in his hands.
“Whatever I touch starts to melt in my clutch,” he said, following the statement with a smug laugh. “I’m too much.”
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